Ida of Toggenburgà(à1140 â 3 November 1226) (also: Idda, Ita, Itha, Itta, Ydda, Judith and Gutta of Fischingen) is aàSwissàChristian nun, venerated as a saint in theàDiocese of Constance especially in Fischingen, Switzerland. She is theàprotagonist of many stories and legends in the local culture.
There is no written record of a cult inÃÂ Fischingen AbbeyÃÂ before theÃÂ 15th century.ÃÂ The first humanistÃÂ Albrecht von BonstettenÃÂ wrote several "Lives of Saints" that the oldest dates back fromÃÂ 1481.
According to legend, Ida was the daughter of a Count ofÃÂ KirchbergÃÂ nearÃÂ UlmÃÂ and was married to a Count ofÃÂ ToggenburgÃÂ (in a document afterÃÂ 1562 heÃÂ was named Heinrich).ÃÂ According to legend, a raven stole Ida's wedding ring.ÃÂ The ring was found in the bird's nest by a bird catcher.ÃÂ When her husband noticed the ring on the bird catcher's hand, he accused Ida of infidelity.ÃÂ He had the bird catcher killed and threw Ida out of his castle window.ÃÂ However, due to her innocence, God miraculously saved her and Ida fled the castle. By a divine miracle later she returned home and retreated to a cave where she found in her hermitage, the error was cleared up, but Ida wanted to continue dedicating her life to God as a hermit. When she went to the nearby Fischinge monastery during the mass, a stag ran ahead, and it had twelve rings in it. A huntsman went there and told his grandfather. Later, her repentant husband had a hermitage built for her inÃÂ Au, near the Fischingen monastery, where she lived until her death on 3 November 1226 and died in the name of holiness and was venerated as a saint before 1410.
In theÃÂ 12th centuryÃÂ there was an Ida, who was married to aÃÂ Diethelm of ToggenburgÃÂ and a second marriage toÃÂ Gottfried of Marstetten. It is hypothesised that she was Countess ofÃÂ HomburgÃÂ and founded the cult tradition through her holy life.
Ida of Toggenburg is represented as a nun, with a crow or a deer, whose antlers shine.ÃÂ It is said that he often led her to the monastery church.ÃÂ Her memory is celebrated onÃÂ November 3.
InÃÂ 1496ÃÂ a monumental table tomb was dedicated to the saint fromÃÂ theÃÂ newly establishedÃÂ Fischingen monastery, who even expelled Our Lady from the monastery's secrecy in theÃÂ 18th century.ÃÂ InÃÂ 1580ÃÂ an Ida brotherhood was founded. Veneration for Ida was limited to Fischingen and its environs until aroundÃÂ 1600, after which it extended to the county of Kirchberg.ÃÂ Ida is also the patron saint of theÃÂ BauenÃÂ chapel, onÃÂ Lake Lucerne, where it is documented for the first time inÃÂ 1561ÃÂ at the Chapel of Saint Ida.
InÃÂ 1704ÃÂ the legend of Ida was reconstructed by the abbot of Fisching Franz Troger with local data (Lake Lucerne):
In 1724ÃÂ PopeÃÂ Benedict XIIIÃÂ grantedÃÂ her cult for the entireÃÂ Diocese of Constance. She is also venerated to this day in theÃÂ Diocese of BaselÃÂ as the patroness of runaway cattle. A little south of Fischingen Abbey, on a 976-meter-high mountain in the area of theÃÂ Kirchberg community, there is a small pilgrimage site,ÃÂ St. IddaburgÃÂ (966 m).